Spring 1997

Disputed Island
by Aslihan Unaldi

A new political crisis between Greece and Turkey developed late last year. The disputed islands in the Aegean, problems concerning sea and air space, and Greece's opposition to Turkey's EU membership have been the main causes of tension. With the recent purchase of Russian anti-aircraft missiles by Greek Cypriots, Cyprus has found itself in a difficult situation.

Cyprus, a small island in the Mediterranean, has been divided since 1974 into the Turkish Republic of northern Cyprus and the Republic of Southern Cyprus. The island is 45 mile form Turkey and 1,000 miles from Greece. Despite the tension between the two countries, peace has reigned on the island since 1974.

This month, the Greek-Cypriot authorities announced the planned purchase of the Russian anti-aircraft missiles which puts them in striking range of the Turkish mainland. The Turkish government said that the move threatens the Turkish Cypriots, and vowed to take political and military measures against the missile deployment.

England, France and the US announced their opposition to the installation of the missiles. Greece, for its part, wants Turkey to withdraw its troops from Northern Cyprus, but Turkey has declared it will not stop protecting the Turkish Cypriots. The situation has come to an impasse, as both countries remain committed to their communities. Threats may turn into violent military action. War, however, will do nothing but harm both countries and their peoples.

One thing is clear: both Greece's purchase of missiles and Turkey's threats of retaliation have only deepened the crisis between the two peoples of the island. The two sides need to communicate and negotiate. The Turks and the Greeks have to learn to live together because it is clear that the alternative is unacceptable.

Cote d'Iviore's Golden Horizon
by Chris Lee

With a growing number of critics calling for a thorough examination of the International Monetary Fund's ability to produce "sustainable" economic growth, Cote d'Ivoire stands as testimony in support of the battered organization. After a decade-long recession initiated by the worldwide price drops in cocoa and coffee back in 1994 with a series of deep structural changes mandated by the IMF.

Cote d'Ivoire recorded a 7.5 percent GDP growth rate in 1996, one of the highest in Africa, coupled with a 3.8 percent inflation rate. Both foreigners and the government alike forecast an even brighter picture of 8 percent growth and 3 percent inflation this year, followed by a double-digit growth and a repeat of 3 percent inflation.

The IMF stipulated economic liberalization as a condition for subsidized loans, to which Cote d'Ivoire agreed. Foreign investment rose by 18 percent last year as the government removed barriers. Privatization of government-owned companies is also on the agenda. Forty businesses have been sold, while twenty more are scheduled for sale this year.

To top it off, the Cote d'Ivoire government recently launched a worldwide advertising campaign aimed at increasing foreign investment. It dubs itself the "Elephant of Africa," a nation of rapid growth, promising to be an African economic powerhouse.

Will Cote d'Ivoire succeed in its mission? Much will depend on keeping foreign investor confidence high through better legal protection of businesses, slashing government debt, and maintaining political stability. Yet the government must heed the lessons of many failed African economies, which crashed from extensive dependence on foreign capital. Finally, diversification must not be limited to agriculture and mining. The present diversification drive concentrates on expanding the mining and oil industries, which suffer from the vicissitude of the world market, as did cocoa and coffee. in the past, growth spurts due to the sale of crude oil has always failed to create lasting economic development.

On a larger level, however, such problems remain small/ Recent economic indicators and the government's zealous promotion of a liberalized economy account for strong optimism. With adjustments in diversification and the maintenance of a delicate balance between foreign capital and foreign reliance, Cote d'Ivoire may succeed in capturing the elusive dream of "sustainable development."

Korean Workers United
by Dongwook Kim

Thousands of South Korean workers marched into a Seoul cathedral in protest of the arrest of three militant union leaders and in resistance to a new labor law passed at the end of 1996. In response, the police sprayed tear-gas into the angry crowd of workers.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has expressed concern about worker rights in South Korea under the new law that maintains a monopoly on union representation by the Federation of Korean Trade Unions. This act has arisen against a backdrop of a downward spiral of the Korean economy. Their main exports of semiconductors, automobiles, ships, petrochemicals, and electronic good have been hard hit by decreasing prices, high production costs and low efficiency, the worsening balance of payments, the high interest rate, and the low stock market.

The Kim Young Sam government has been unpopular due to its inconsistent policies and poor economic record. The government, in its last year, is determined o end on a good note. Its first move was to curb the power of labor unions and their demands for higher wages. Korean workers now enjoy wages that are among the very highest in the region. The ruling New Korea Party managed to pass the new labor law using its majority in the national assembly.

The Korean government should take careful steps in its call for cooperation from all segments of the population. This is the way to overcome the downturn of the economy in the short run while the structural transformation of the inefficient and unstable Korean economy into a stable one in the long run.

Ein Volk (One People)
by Cody Constable

A new right-wing intellectual movement has taken rot in Germany. The thinkers of the Neue Recht, or the New Right, call for a revival of German national pride. They insist on revising the history books, claiming among other things that the Holocaust is "exaggerated" and that Stalin, not Hitler, was responsible for the outbreak of World War II. They eject what they claim to be the "American-imported: multiculturalist system.

New Right thinkers publish these opinions in books and articles in popular magazines, and their reactionary attitudes are starting to move from the fringe into the political mainstream. Germany, unlike the United States, France, and Britain, has traditionally conceived of its nationhood not as founded on principles and rights, but on language and race. In the nineteenth century, hundreds of Germanophone states were united on the pretext of common German nationality. The young nation later expanded into neighboring countries, and under the direction of a madman, exterminated those it considered impure.

Germany's New Right obviously does not yet constitute as serious a threat as the Third Reich. Still, given hot issues in current German politics - such as the question of whether to grant citizenship to German-born foreign immigrants - coupled with the growing pains of economic reform, the intellectuals who revive talk of German national pride may influence the voters and the government to adopt exclusionary polices unbecoming of a democracy. The world should listen for soft echoes of a frightening era we thought was over. As we hail the arrival of a new age in European politics, we should bear in mind that the most horrifying precedents of "cleansing" come from the heart of Europe.

Two Nations, One Birthright
by Anastasia Tavoulareas

The peace process in the Middle East has a way of bringing together even the most unrelenting foes to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. It happened again in January with the agreements reached between Benjamin Netanyahu and Yasir Arafat. In an 87 to 17 vote, the Israeli Parliament agreed to deploy Israeli troops in Hebron.

Hebron has long been regarded as the West Bank City with the strongest element of Islamic fundamentalism. In 1967, however, the city was seized by Israel because there were 450 Jewish settlers there. The Israeli pullout was delayed for over a year. The problem remains: two nations, one birthright. Arabs and Israelis are sharing a sliver of land and arguing who got there first.

With partial troop withdrawal, the atmosphere in Hebron divided between a festive feeling on the Palestinian side and a subdued air in the Jewish enclaves. Arafat, the Palestinian leader, appears to be taking pains to send a conciliatory message to the Jewish settlers in Hebron. He has repeatedly stated his desire to move toward a "just and comprehensive peace." Many Jews, however, accept his olive branch warily, predicting an inevitable clash. But Netanyahu has also been scrutinized. Critics point out that the Israeli leader buckled under American pressure, that the agreement is a political scheme.

This mist recent accord is one of the many steps to peace. The goal is clear, but how to achieve that goal is still not resolved. Heartening as the the Hebron Agreement is, it is not a guarantee for the future. Hebron remains a city of telling contrasts.